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From: reddy@ctnews.UUCP (T.S.Reddy)
Newsgroups: net.nlang.india
Subject: Re: Mountbatten series
Message-ID: <106@ctnews.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 24-Feb-86 16:21:43 EST
Article-I.D.: ctnews.106
Posted: Mon Feb 24 16:21:43 1986
Date-Received: Wed, 26-Feb-86 20:23:58 EST
References: <115@Shasta.ARPA>
Lines: 62

In article <115@Shasta.ARPA>, zerksis@syr-cis-aos.cs-net (Zerksis Umrigar) writes:

> This TV series has been  described  as  a  "Dallas  with  brown  skins";
> someone  else  said  that  Gandhi  is  portrayed as a buffoon. These are
> subjective perceptions over which we may argue  endlessly  -  I  do  not
> perceive  the  series in that way. Once I accept the historical facts of
> India's subjugation by an imperialist and racist colonial  power,  I  do
> not  see  why  a  portrayal  of  the  accompanying  attitudes  should be
> seen as a conspiracy to malign India.

  From your reply, you are implying that the net users who critiqued the
  series cannot swallow the fact that Indians were subjugated by the
  British. Since, in the following paragraph, you cite two or three sources
  for reaching the conclusion that Mountbatten single handedly subdued
  Pathans then perhaps you will be convinced by the spate of TV series on
  the "sensitive and caring British Raj" that they are nothing but a 
  nostalgic take off by the British on their glory days. And my conclusion
  about Gandhi's portrayal still stands after five episodes - He's been
  made to look like a fool.

> What we cannot argue about are historical facts. One of the  critics  of
> the  TV  series referred to an incident in the second(?) espisode, where
> Mountbatten and  his  wife  almost  single-handedly  pacified  an  angry
> demonstration  by  thousands  of  armed Pathans. The critic charged that
> this scene was ridiculous - initially,  I  tended  to  agree  with  him.
> However,  I  changed  my  mind  when  I  found that the book "Freedom at
> Midnight" by Collins and Lapierre (pg. 130) had an  identical  portrayal
> of this incident. What is more, there is a photograph of the incident on
> pg. 329. I also saw a similar description in  Tendulkar's  biography  of
> Abdul  Ghaffar  Khan.  Hence, I have little doubt that this "ridiculous"
> incident did indeed occur and was  not  conjured  out  of  thin  air  to
> magnify Mountbatten's character in the TV series.

  To say that the entire Pathan crowd was taken in by the fact that Mount-
  batten was wearing the Muslim color (green) is indeed ridiculous. Can
  you imagine? Pathans who are supposed to be fierce warriors and who have
  seen war quite a bit in their time cannot recognize a military uniform
  when they see one!

> Collins and Lapierre interviewed Mountbatten extensively for their book
> and have reprinted their interviews in two interesting volumes published
> by Vikas. One good reason for their accepting Mountbatten's version of
> facts is that he alone, of the principals involved in the pre -
> independence negotiations (as far as I can determine), kept a precise
> record of all his meetings. Tho' Mountbatten is rather conceited (he
> himself admits that) and credits himself for being instrumental in many
> things, his perception is probably not all that distorted.

  Now who is being subjective? Should we conclude from the confessions of
  a pompous and self serving man and two authors whose books on history
  are as racy as a Jackie Collins novel that theirs is the true interp-
  retion of the tumultuous period that was the freedom struggle.

> In conclusion, I must say that I think that the  Mountbatten  series  is
> true to historical fact. It does concentrate on Mountbatten, but that is
> not too surprising considering the title. I enjoy  watching  the  series
> and would recommend it to everyone.

  Probably as true as the TATA trucks that turned up during the Pathan in-
  vasion of Kashmir (episode 5). I hope that in the future you will conti-
  ue doing us all a favor and access the net in your favorite mode - read
  only.